If you are interested in learning more about the Homeowner's RRSP one-time withdrawal rules, please pm chicpea at your earliest convenience. However, I should point out before you write a flowery message that you do not qualify for this and will be penalized heavily should you attempt such a manoeuvre.

I finally got around to cleaning off my back step to take a look at it. The eventual goal here is to slap some paint on it so it doesn't look like hell when I try to sell the place, but is there anything else I should do about the stuff in those pictures?

Obviously a little repointing is in order, as seen in picture 3. But should I do anything about those spalling bricks in picture 2?

Picture 4 shows a spot that some previous owned had covered in some sort of concrete over because the brick deteriorated. It fell out when I scraped the paint off. Should I just do the same? Is there some specific product I should get for that?

Dont worry about specific products. Hide it like the guy before you and move(5 yrs after i told you to move) before the house falls down. That spalling is nothing compared to the damage to the subgrade clay double brick foundation.

Remember that realtors have a fiscal incentive to get you to sell as fast as possible, not for the best price. When selling their own houses, they tend to stay on the market like three times as long as their clients, and get better prices.

Other than that I got nothing, because I'm stuck in the Toronto housing market which is a silly place where rules don't matter.

I have a century old home, been fixing it up for the past few years and I think I'll do well for it.

I have a debate though:

The basement was crap when I moved in, so we have gutted it down to the blocks. It has really high ceilings for this age a house, and while I was thinking of finishing it before selling I figure I won't...

Thing is, some of the blocks show signs of water. If I was going to finish it, I would beef up the foundation (it would have to be from the inside out on 3/4 of the house) and was debating getting new weeping tile if I kept it. as is, I've had very good ROI but houses on my street will go about 30-35% higher than what I think I can get for mine. I only have 1 bathroom, and I was debating killing 2 birds and getting some concrete work done in the basement and having a hookup for a some type of bathroom (even just a oiler and a sink)

Of course, it sounds like I could also just paint the basement with specific paint for a cheap fix and not bother with the bother. The wisdom seems to say renos aren't worth it, but I'm wondering about it anyway. Water is no longer getting to the foundation because I've fixed the gutters and grading, but at the age of the place I'm wondering if this might be a good idea before selling...